


From Start to Finish

by orphan_account



Category: Sherlock (TV), Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms
Genre: Kid Fic, M/M, Non-Explicit Sex, Retirement, Unresolved Sexual Tension, alternative universe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-08-11
Updated: 2012-08-11
Packaged: 2017-11-11 21:28:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,065
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/483067
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sherlock and John don't meet when John gets invalided back from Afghanistan, but instead meet much, much earlier.</p>
            </blockquote>





	From Start to Finish

**Author's Note:**

> Just as a warning, there's mentions of drug use in here (Sherlock and cocaine). Plus when I said non-explicit sex I meant it's sort of just mentioned, but not really drawn out so it's rated M just to be safe.  
> This actually started out as the plan of something, but I ended up writing it a bit like a fic. I thought that, seeing as I haven't posted anything in a while and I never really finish anything, I'd post it on here. If I end up finishing the drawn out long one, I'll add that as well. Good times.  
> I hope you enjoy, anyhoo. Happy reading.  
> [EDIT] I think I've captured most of the typos. Think. Hopefully.

John and Sherlock meet on the first day of Primary School, when John's mother and Sherlock's mother are talking. They don't really like each other at first, but soon grow to when John is asked to sit next to Sherlock for the seating plan because Sherlock has made yet another one of the children sat next to him cry. Somehow, they end up liking each other. John jokes, and isn't afraid to tell Sherlock he's stupid sometimes. Isn't even afraid enough to stop himself from drawing on Sherlock's face. Sherlock only laughs when he's with John.

The first deduction happens when they're both seven. Sherlock deduces what John had for breakfast and ends up amazing him. John demands to hear the reasoning, and calls Sherlock brilliant when he explains. Sherlock also deduces that Ms. Watson and Mr. Watson want a divorce, but he doesn't say that. John asks Sherlock to deduce the other children: he's mostly close and on track, but what he says is almost never completely right.

John finally meets Mycroft when they're eight. John's parents have divorced; Sherlock's father has committed suicide (Sherlock deduced he was having an affair and ruined his parents' relationship). Mycroft is sixteen and goes to the secondary school down the street. He speaks with long words and doesn't like John that much. That's okay though, because John doesn't like him that much either. He tells Sherlock just that, and his friend agrees with him. They have a lot in common, really.

When they're eleven, John begs his mum to send him to the same Secondary School as Sherlock. It takes a while, but she finally buckles and lets him go there, despite it being a bit further away from their house than she would like. She can't argue with the good rating that it has been given. John doesn't understand the importance of money yet, so she doesn't say anything about the price of the uniforms.

John isn't an idiot, but Sherlock is much smarter than everyone. They both get put into the top class of their year, but Sherlock is still much farther ahead than everyone else. The school ends up asking him if he'd like to be moved up a year, but he says no and carries on learning at a level that's much too beneath him so he can still be in the same class as John.

When they're thirteen, new people get moved into the class and some people get moved down into a lower group. Greg Lestrade and Molly Hooper move into their class as they got good results in their last few exams. Molly gets a crush on Sherlock; John notices but Sherlock doesn't. John doesn't say anything about it to Sherlock and wonders why when he actually thinks about the concious decision he made about it a few days later.

They get into a fight a few weeks after that with one of the students that moved into their class. They can't remember his name now, but it's not important. What is important is that he accused Sherlock of cheating during his tests. What's even more important is that John gave him a black eye and a bloody lip for saying it. What's not mentioned or spoken about is the tightness Sherlock feels in his chest as he watches John defend him.

When they're fifteen, Molly has a sleepover for her birthday. She invites John, Sherlock, Greg, and three other girls from the class. One is called Mary, but neither John or Sherlock really remember her second name. She's the one that suggests they play 'Spin the Bottle' - a game that John has heard of and a game that needs explaining to Sherlock. John ends up kissing Molly and one of the other girls. Sherlock ends up kissing Molly as well before kissing John. Their kiss lingers. They don't talk about it.

The next year they have their GCSE exams. Five nights out of seven, they study at each other's houses. On Fridays and weekends, they end up sleeping over. Sherlock helps him a lot with Chemistry and English. John helps Sherlock understand some parts of Biology and Humanities that continue to baffle him. They sit closer than they need to.

By now, John's mother knows that wherever Sherlock goes John shall follow so she doesn't question his choice of College at all. Sherlock and him aren't in as many classes when they're there, but John needs to take Biology and Chemistry A-levels to be a doctor so Sherlock is in his Chemistry class. Sherlock takes Drama and English as well; John wastes his third option on Drama so they'll be together in another class. He doesn't expect to be as good at it as he is.

Sherlock goes to Oxford and John tries to follow but doesn't get in at first. Sherlock calls Mycroft and asks him to arrange it so John can get in on one of the medical courses. Mycroft refuses him at first, saying that not everything in life works out the way Sherlock might want it to. But then Sherlock says 'please' in a way that shows he needs Mycroft to do this for him. The next day, John gets a letter from Oxford saying that there had been a mix up and they'd be glad to take him in.

In University, Sherlock takes Criminology, Chemistry, and English Language. John's only class is his medical course that covers most things, including surgery and Bio-Chemistry. They have different dorms all throughout their first year, but John insists that they get a flat together during their second year. Sherlock agrees, no questions really asked about why.

They finish in the same year and get their qualifications. John signed up to go into the Army half way through his final year. He didn't tell Sherlock. He still doesn't tell Sherlock even as they contemplate buying a flat in London. They move into 221B Baker Street together, Sherlock introducing John to Mrs. Hudson and her husband. They seem nice enough. It's a shame that John won't be here for much longer to get to know them properly.

When John finally tells Sherlock, it's a week before he has to leave. Sherlock doesn't shout at him, he doesn't get angry, he just deflates. John says he's sorry but Sherlock just smiles at him and asks if he can spend the last week with him, only him. They spend all the days talking, smiling, laughing with each other. On the final three nights, Sherlock sleeps in John's bed with him. On the final two nights, they curl around each other. On the final night, Sherlock asks why and John doesn't have the words to answer him with. He doesn't know if he ever will.

John goes off to the army. Sherlock meets with Sebastian, who was in his English Language class in University. Sebastian supplies him with cocaine, just like the good old days. Sherlock hasn't done cocaine since the first year of University, when he could hide it from John. It helped with his absence then, and it helps while John is away now.

A few weeks after John leaves, Sherlock finds out that Lestrade is now working for Scotland Yard. He begs to be let on the scene for a few of the cases but Lestrade refuses. Instead, he gives Sherlock cold case reports that he just about manages to sneak out of the office. Sherlock solves most of them and Lestrade steadily gets moved up to the rank of Detective Inspector.

Lestrade is the one that finds out about the cocaine addiction. Sherlock makes him promise not to tell John, and Lestrade agrees so long as he gets clean. He manages to get himself off it steadily, and Lestrade gives him the address of his therapist. Sherlock goes once to humour him, but gets kicked out once he points out the therapist he's given is having an affair with the receptionist. Lestrade laughs but tells him he probably shouldn't announce his deductions out loud so much.

He finds out Molly is working at St. Bartholomew's Hospital when they cross during him having to conduct an experiment for one of the cases that Lestrade has let him help on. Molly asks him how John is, and Sherlock tells her that he's gone into the army. It brings back all the emotions that he pushed down, and he has to excuse himself. He ends up crying in one of the staff toilets. He tells himself off for being so emotional and leaves without another word to Molly or another thought for his experiment.

John comes home between tours, but it's only for a week each time and he's often out for up to eight months every tour he does so they don't see each other a lot. They spend those weeks like they did the last one before John went away. They never do anything about the tension between them, they just sit together and hug and talk and silently hate themselves on the inside. If one climbs into the others' bed, they don't say anything about it. They merely curl around the intruding warmth.

John tells his army friends about Sherlock when he's on his third tour in the army. One more tour after this and he never has to come back. He's forgotten the reason he signed up in the first place. He talks for three hours straight about him, and at the end of it his comrades are amazed. They ask if he and Sherlock are together. John hesitates before he says that they aren't. He doesn't say that he wishes they were.

Four weeks before he finishes his third tour, John gets shot in the shoulder. He spends two weeks in an army hospital with fever and a sling. It's another week before he's moved over to England again to stay in a proper hospital where he can get proper medical assistance. It's another week after that before Sherlock is finally told that John has been shot. He turns up at the hospital the next day, uses Mycroft's influence to get John moved to a private room, and refuses to leave until John is better. John tells him he's over reacting, but Sherlock stays anyway.

One day, John wakes up to see Sherlock sleeping with his cheek pressed against John's stomach and one hand gripping the bed covers while the other grasps John's hand. It's at that moment that John finally decides he loves his flatmate and that he should have really noticed his feelings much, much sooner. As soon as they say John can leave, Sherlock takes him back to 221B. They spend the night hugging in Sherlock's bed. Neither of them question if that's what normal friends do because it doesn't matter; they've never been just normal friends anyway.

A few weeks afterwards, when John's shoulder has finally healed properly, he invites Lestrade out for a drink. Lestrade agrees. They end up meeting in a Pub closer to Baker Street than where Lestrade's house is. John doesn't know how it happens, but after four pints he's confessing his feelings and his trepidation. Lestrade tells him to go for it, him and Sherlock have been friends for so long that it doesn't matter what either says to the other. John tells him that he has too much to lose and orders another pint.

John returns home more than a little drunk, and Sherlock scolds him for drinking when he's still recovering. John tells him to shut up, that he can look after himself. Sherlock says that if he could look after himself, he wouldn't have been shot, and he wouldn't be drunk right now. They end up fighting, shouting far too loudly. Then Sherlock is pressing John back against the fridge and kissing him desperately, like he's drowning and John is the air his lungs need. John is too drunk to remember it in the morning; Sherlock doesn't say anything about it.

Time passes, and they solve cases together. John starts a blog when his government supplied councillor tells him to. Mr. Hudson ends up in jail for life when Sherlock discovers he's behind a string of murders. John wants to throw up when he discovers he'd also being beating Mrs. Hudson. She says she's fine, but John and Sherlock make sure to spend more time with her. It's nice, in a way. They become her 'boys'.

A few days after Sherlock's twenty-ninth birthday, they come home laughing after a chase through the streets of London. They hadn't really solved anything when they'd chased that Cab but neither care. They're leaning against the wall just inside of Baker Street and then somehow Sherlock's face is pressed against John's neck. John clenches his fists into the fabric at Sherlock's sides, pulling him closer. They breathe each other's air. The moment is broken when Mrs. Hudson steps out of her flat and tells them Lestrade is upstairs. John finds out that night about the cocaine addiction that Sherlock has hidden from him.

There are a few more cases, and then a horrible night that involves John being strapped to a bomb and almost being blown up by some madman called Moriarty. They get home mostly unharmed save for the headache John has from where he was knocked out. Sherlock spends two hours holding an ice pack against John's left temple despite John's protests that he can do it himself. Sherlock tells him that it would strain his shoulder, so John doesn't argue. He just leans forwards and rests his head against Sherlock's shoulder so he doesn't have to stretch his arm as far.

They have a Bond night, because John learns that Sherlock has somehow managed to get away with not watching any of the films. When they're halfway through the third one, John leans his head against Sherlock's shoulder. Sherlock presses his nose into John's hair, just breathing him in. John is the first one to give in when he leans up to press his lips to Sherlock's. Hands cover his cheeks, pulling him in as Sherlock kisses him back with earnest. They agree that they shouldn't have sex and leave off at just kissing. They sleep in separate beds that night.

There's a complicated case that involves all sorts of breaking and entering and ends with John shooting their suspect in the leg. They call Lestrade and tell him the location (they tell him to bring an ambulance as well). When they get back, battered and bruised, Sherlock presses John up against the door and kisses him again. It's hungry, desperate, like the one against the fridge when he was drunk. Somehow, John's trousers are off and two of Sherlock's fingers are pressed up inside of him, stretching him. It burns, but it feels far too good, and Sherlock ends up fucking him against the wood of the door. They stagger to Sherlock's room because it's closest and fall asleep there.

When they wake up in the morning, Sherlock is curled up against John, face buried against his shoulder. John presses kisses against the side of his neck until he wakes up with a soft whimper. They kiss slowly as they writhe against each other. John can wrap a single hand around both of their cocks easily, and he brings them off with languid, slow strokes while his other hand stays buried in the soft curls of Sherlock's hair. Their kiss deteriorates to the point where they're just sharing wet puffs of breath, their mouths pressed together as they keep eye contact. It breaks when Sherlock squeezes his eyes shut, coming with a quiet gasp. John follows soon afterwards.

They don't need to discuss it, not really, because they both know where they stand now. They don't come out to anyone outwardly, and they're not really any closer than they were beforehand. John jokes that they were always in a relationship from the start. Sherlock points out that from the start was about twenty five years ago. John raises his eyebrows, but just shrugs and smiles and kisses him softly. Sherlock doesn't know how John has put up with him for so long when everyone else has left.

It continues like that, them being together. They have a fair few fights, but no more than they already had before the turn in their relationship. Lestrade is the first to really notice the change, but it's not a big difference to everyone else because they already assumed that they were together. There's a period where Sherlock fakes his own death, but returns after three years. John punches him in the face, then fucks him against the couch with unrestrained, stuttering thrusts. Everything returns to normal (or as normal at it could have ever been).

Really, it's no surprise that they grow old together, retire together even. They spend a few months more in 221B before Sherlock buys an estate in Sussex. Mrs. Hudson has passed long ago, so they give 221 Baker Street to one of the many people who want to preserve what Sherlock has done. They're more than famous, but they are getting a bit sick of the constant stream of mail they get from fans. John announces on his blog that they've retired and that he won't be posting any more. They pack and move to Sussex.

The estate is big, and John soon finds out that the reason it's big is because Sherlock wanted to keep bees. He doesn't complain, because the honey is good. They spend the rest of their lives there, not doing much but sometimes solving a few mundane mysteries in the area around them because Sherlock would never truly give up deducing. It's nice, and they're both glad they met each other from the beginning.

Sherlock questions him one day, on what would have happened if they hadn't have met when they did. John smiles, presses his nose into the hair just behind Sherlock's ear as he hugs him, and says that they'd have probably met at some other point. Sherlock smiles back at that, kisses him, and says that he'd have liked to have met him after he'd got shot if he had to meet him at another time. John asks why, and Sherlock says that then was the time when they'd have needed each other most.

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos and comments appreciated, as ever.


End file.
